


Two's Company (Three's a Crowd)

by firelord65



Series: Fecky's Whumptober Oneshots [9]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Post-Curse of the Black Pearl, F/M, On the Run, Pining, Take me instead, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26924620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firelord65/pseuds/firelord65
Summary: On the run and out of moves, Jack does the only thing he can to save the other's skins.
Relationships: Elizabeth Swann/Will Turner, Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann (One-Sided)
Series: Fecky's Whumptober Oneshots [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950469
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Two's Company (Three's a Crowd)

**Author's Note:**

> And on we go to a new ship! So far I'm still 9 for 9 on Whumptober prompts, this time jumping into a fandom I haven't hit before. When is this story set? Lord only knows. I haven't re-watched canon in a small century, so I will slap an AU label on this and call it a day! It's definitely pre-Pirate King Elizabeth though. And Post-Black Pearl. Somehow!
> 
> Also, all of my ship settings and terms are pulled from either my extensive plays on Sea of Thieves or hastily googled, so I'm certain that they're wrong :D
> 
> Day 9: For the Greater Good - "Take Me Instead" | "Run!" | Ritual Sacrifice

The sea was deadly at any moment if that was her will. Even more so at night, she could truly vex even the most seasoned of sailors. Alone and adrift on a tiny sloop that had only just been given her name, Jack knew they were taking a risk continuing their journey in the moonless night. This was only a temporary setback - as all setbacks were in Jack's mind - but it still was a worrisome one.

At least he wasn't alone. While his crew had elected to remain on the Pearl, his one time compatriot and more recently uneasy allies of Turner and Elizabeth were aboard as well. Not that they much wanted to be, but when confronted with a stowaway Jack and the Royal Navy nipping at his heels, away they all went.

"I don't think I had thanked you for the lift, mate," Jack commented as he sat draped over the back rail of the sloop. Turner was at the helm, his hand steady on the wheel. Jack eyed his hat with not a small amount of jealousy. The man had fallen into the ostentatious side of not-quite-legal seafaring with a ready ease. Jack's hand lifted to his own rather sun-beaten tricone and grimaced.

Turner kept his attention on the horizon rather than Jack. "No, I don't believe that you did," he replied tersely. Jack frowned.

"Well I had intended to, so here it is now. Thank you," he said with a twist of his wrist and a bend of his knees. If he went down further, he wasn't certain he would come back up again. The tiny galley down below had been well stocked with the usual provisions that Jack so loved to indulge in. It was less well stocked now.

Elizabeth threaded her way up the stairs from the main deck to plant a kiss on Turner's cheek. Jack turned his head to the stars, finding them less fetching than the woman who was pirate in all but name. "I don't need to separate you two, do I?" Elizabeth teased, her eyes bright from the rum. Jack had quite enjoyed that he didn't need to twist her arm to partake in just a tipple or two.

"It seems even when we try, we can't lose Captain Jack, so it seems a waste to try," Turner replied. Elizabeth laughed heartily. Jack grimaced and ignored the twist of the knife that came with it.

"I'm more so surprised that I would find two such cautious law-abiding people as yourselves in a place like-" Jack started only to be interrupted.

Turner finally turned to regard Jack, his expression far from good-willed. "Let's not play games here, Jack. It's been a long time since either Elizabeth or myself could set foot in respectable ports. And it's not too difficult a guess whose fault that lies with," he snapped.

Jack waited a moment for Turner to ease back into one single figure in his vision. "I seem to recall it was the mild-mannered blacksmith's apprentice who begged for a pirate's help, damn the consequences, and not the other way around," Jack retorted. He swung a lazy glance at Elizabeth to read her expression. Finding it indecipherable behind the cup she had to her lips, he continued, "And if we are truly tossing blame around, let's not forget the light fingered dame here who was plenty responsible for her own misfortunes."

Resting a hand on Turner's shoulder, Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Digging at old wounds won't help anything," she said. Turner glowered at Jack for a moment further before turning back to the wheel. The top deck felt cramped with all three of them there, or was that just Jack? There was a fog bank rolling in which only added to the claustrophobic feeling.

Elizabeth, light on her feet, pivoted and reclined easily against the railing next to Jack. She had an easygoing smile alight on her lips now. The cup in her hand was nearly empty and had definitely held a large portion previously. She tipped her head and her smile turned sly and wide. "I would have thought by now that you would be plotting and scheming to get Will to turn the ship about and bring you back to the Pearl," she said.

Jack met her gaze uneasily. He coughed and leaned forward to snatch the rum from her hand. He ignored the feeling of her fingers underneath his and quickly knocked back the final drought. "And I would have thought I would be drunker than you this late of an hour, but I can see that we're both disappointed," Jack replied, bolstered again by the burn of the spice in the back of his throat.

Turner called over his shoulder, "You're both as drunk as bilge rats to me if it's any consolation." Elizabeth dissolved into a puddle of sniggering. Jack gripped her forearm to keep her from slipping off the railing. When she managed to compose herself once more, Jack stepped further along the rail to slouch in the corner. Elizabeth didn't miss the motion even as she swallowed the last remaining giggles. She didn't say anything though, and Jack held his tongue before he said something stupid. Not that he even knew what he would say.

"C'mon Will, it is rather nice to see Jack again," Elizabeth cooed. Turner didn't appear convinced. Jack watched the feather on his hat band sway side to side as he shook his head in disbelief. Elizabeth had snatched the cup back from Jack somehow during her fit and was now staring morosely at its empty status.

Jack was hit with the urge to apologize now, much as he had felt the need to thank Turner for saving his hide. Wherever they were going, it shouldn't have been dogged by the Navy men who were on Jack's tail.

He turned to face away from the pair and stared instead at the fog. If he squinted hard enough, he could surely see the masts and sails of the Navy now. Neither Turner nor Elizabeth had the brand on their wrists at least. They had yet to suffer that fate. There was very much still a chance for them to escape the shadow of the law over their future.

Jack rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his palm. He really should have held off on that last swallow of rum. He really was seeing things now. The eddies and wisps of the fog appeared almost to be the headsail of a galleon coming in from the south east.

Throwing himself to his feet proper, Jack backed over to Turner's side at the wheel. "We may have a situation," he said slowly. Elizabeth followed Jack's gaze and leaned over the railing to try and make out what he had seen. Her expression soured and her hand went to an empty belt.

Guilt, potent and sobering, rose up over Jack. Turner cursed and asked for a heading. Elizabeth directed him further north west, though that would surely only delay the inevitable. Jack ran through the odds in his mind's eye. The sloop had one single mainsail. The galleon had at least three. There was no beating that math. And their shallow keel would only matter in the rocky shores close to land. They had been travelling deeper into the depths of the sea on to the pair's destination, not to a simple hop from port to port that Jack might have favored.

There was no situation where they sailed away from this. Jack watched rather stiffly as the two scrambled to find some advantage over the galleon. Already Jack could see the billowing cloth of the front mainsail clearly through the fog. The sea had disguised their approach, leaving the sloop no recourse.

"Don't run," Jack said quietly. He barely believed the words coming out of his mouth. His hands turned to fists at his side. Turner started.

"What do you mean, don't run? We can't _fight_ ," Turner retorted. Jack was already shaking his head. He felt the weight of Elizabeth's incredulous stare.

"They aren't after you," Jack managed to say. "If you allow them to come alongside and hand over the man they _are_ after, they certainly won't look too closely at much else."

Elizabeth scoffed and returned to hefting a pair of cannonballs into the two skinny cannons that made up their defenses. "We aren't just letting them take you," she insisted.

Jack turned to Turner. It would be easier to convince him than Elizabeth. There was enough animosity between them. "We both know you won't have a problem seeing them clap me in irons," Jack murmured. Turner's face twisted. The man didn't deny it though, which Jack counted as good enough. "It'll let you and the missus keep on slipping under the King's watch. You'll be free to go on to the next port or wherever you've got your compass set to."

Time was racing out of their hands. The galleon would be alongside them within a few minutes. Jack clapped a hand on Turner's shoulder. "Let them take me instead. I can kick up a fuss, you two can split, and the fog will let you disappear for real this time."

The two men studied one another. Jack thought just maybe that Turner's measure of him had increased, if only by an inch. Finally he nodded. He let go of the wheel, letting the rudder return to their original course. Elizabeth's head popped up and she turned to regard the pair of men with confusion.

"Wrong heading!" she called. Then her face fell as she took in their position. She raced up the stairs, all fury and determination. Jack would have savored it, but he was already passing by her. She grabbed him with both hands and he stumbled out of her grip.

"No time, love," he said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Got to find myself a bit of rope. Otherwise the story won't sell."


End file.
